


Family of Three

by Ochie94



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Child Adoption, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Family Issues, M/M, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slice of Life, krisyeol - Freeform, mention of negligence, mention of slight Child Neglect, no physical harm, other characters will be added later - Freeform, triggers warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-03-19 11:04:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13703157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ochie94/pseuds/Ochie94
Summary: Chanyeol found a lost child who refused to be sent back to her home. Didn't know what to do, he started taking care of her. And when he knew what happened in her life, Chanyeol knew that he couldn't make her leave, not even though Yifan -his lover- was against him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel of “Family” -a fanfic, part of Wedding Stories-  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/13438098
> 
> I intended this to be a tiny plot in “Family” but I can't stop myself. No one can resist homey KrisYeol with child~

 

**_Family of Three_ **

 

**_\-----_ **

 

**_1_ **

 

After a long day of hard work, Chanyeol expected to come home to Yifan infiltrating his apartment and cooking a proper meal for him or nothing at all. It had always been like that for four years and he didn't ask for a change. Well, there was a change he hoped for actually, and it was Yifan moved in to his apartment.

They had been dating since the last year of Yifan’s study in their university which was seven years ago already. And a year after graduating and catching a good job of his own, he moved to this apartment which was not far from Yifan’s apartment and yet still close to his office. Since his day one in this new apartment, Yifan was more often than not checking on him.

 _“Why did you decide to live alone? You could move in with me.”_ Yifan had said that he couldn’t take care of himself, a statement which Chanyeol -at that time- couldn’t deny. But he had his own reason, he couldn’t let the other man to always take care of him.

Back to right then, Chanyeol expected that there was nothing waiting for him in his apartment because he knew Yifan left for Canada after getting his permission to take some days off to visit his mother, thus why he ordered some food online.

Not wanting to go up yet to his floor, Chanyeol waited for his food in the lobby while talking with the receptionist which he had been befriended since his day one there. Once his food arrive, he paid the delivery man and gave one of the snacks to the old man who in turn gave delicious kimchi made by his wife.

Going up to his floor, Chanyeol was careful with his belonging, minding to not move the plastic bag too much or he would break the packaging and turned his dinner into bibimbap of jjajangmyun, tangsuyuk, mandu and pickled radishes -well, there is no rice in it but still. He loved them all but he wasn't sure that he would love the taste after they got all mixed into one dish.

Reminding himself of his passcode, he was ready to punch in the number when he spotted a little girl waiting in front of his door as soon as he stepped out from the elevator. His eyes widened when the girl looked up at him and he dropped his bags when the girl started crying.

 

\-----

 

Woken up awfully by his phone in the early hour of six in the morning,  Yifan grumbled out of his old bed to grasp his phone on the table.

Raising his brow when he saw his lover’s name on the screen, he expected a good excuse from him for this call in the ungodly hour. Otherwise still with the annoyance of woken up rudely, he answered calmly. “Hello? What is it Chanyeol?”

“Hyung! What should I do to a crying girl?” Chanyeol’s panicked voice invading his just woken up sense like a train wreck that Yifan paused for a bit to think over what the other had just said.

“What?”

 

\-----

 

When the girl suddenly cried, Chanyeol leaped into panic that he dropped his meals on the floor and he kneeled in front of the girl who immediately clutched onto his jacket, creasing the fabric in her tiny hands.

Not knowing what to do, Chanyeol opted to hug the girl, the action seemed to calm the girl a little bit as she let go of his jacket and latched onto his neck. Bringing the girl up in his arms, the young man patted her back awkwardly and he could feel her tears and snot _-oh god, please no-_ dripped onto his neck and his shirt collar.

Looking frantically around and almost whining when there was no one else beside him in the two roomed apartment floor, Chanyeol in his panic haste fished out his phone from his shirt pocket and  called the only person he could think of able to help him.

The call to Yifan turned out not helping at all. At first, that's it. Yifan, who he lately realized had just woken up was silenced by his outcry and the sound of the girl crying on his neck.

“What?” He finally heard the elder reply. And Chanyeol didn't waste another time when he heard her started coughing between her cry. “How do we calm a crying girl?”

The saddening sound of her cough seemed to make Yifan even more alert when Chanyeol heard his serious tone telling him what to do. The other didn't say anything beside any tricks he knew to calm the girl but Chanyeol was aware that once he calmed the girl -if he could really do it-, Yifan would start questioning him.

To his numerous attempts, the girl slowly calmed down, her cries stopped leaving some coughs and little sobs as he rocked her gently and let her hearing Yifan’s calming words from his phone which he had put on speaker. His big hand caressing her long hair which felt dry against his palm and neck, along with Yifan’s small coo when she didn't cough again and her sobs died down into sniffles.

Both of the older man didn't say anything after that, Yifan went silent while Chanyeol continued caressing the girl's hair without a word. The only thing which telling him that his lover hadn't hang up on him was the screen of his phone which he had placed on the windowsill of the small waiting room outside his apartment room.

Chanyeol glanced at the girl after a while, the noise had stopped completely and he was curious about the girl's condition, and Yifan seemed to think about the same thing when his voice surfaced again from beneath the silence. “How is she?”

“I think she fell asleep.” Chanyeol said unsure, with her face not facing him, he couldn't know yet. Awkwardly careful, he moved her in his arms, positioning her so she could rest her head on his still clean left shoulder.

“Yeah, she is asleep.” The young tall man informed once he saw her closed eyes and felt the puffy calm breathe against his neck. Leaning toward his phone, he asked with a whisper. “What should I do now?”

“Where are you now?” Yifan finally started his questions.

“In front of my apartment.”

“Outside?”

Looking at his door in front of him and then the elevator beside him, he said. “Inside. I had just stepped out of the elevator when I found her in front of my door.”

“If you found her there, she is probably staying there too. How old is she?”

“I don't know. Maybe four? Five? I don't know anything about kid. She is so small, and her height only reaches my waist?”

“She shouldn't be too young to not remember her home. Maybe she forgets her floor number and get lost.” Thinking of the same possibility, Chanyeol waited for Yifan to continue his words. “Or a guest and she gets lost when she plays around.”

Already moving toward the elevator with his phone in his hand, Chanyeol uttered. “I will go and inform the receptionist about her.”

“Wait.” Yifan called. “You said that she fell asleep. Maybe you should let her rest inside. She falls asleep after calming down, she is probably exhausted. Maybe not physically but mentally, we don't know how long she has been there. Just call the receptionist from your apartment.”

Blinking, Chanyeol looked at the girl again, the tears stain on her cheeks made him to stop going down. “You're right. I will call you later, I guess?”

“Yeah. I'm going back to sleep now.”

Feeling sorry about that, Chanyeol uttered. “Sorry for waking you up. But I was in panic and didn't know who to call beside you.”

There was a chuckle from the other side as Chanyeol punched in his passcode before Yifan replied. “You could have called your mother, she had been taking care of you for years, she should know better.”

“Right.” Chanyeol said before remembering his plastic bag. Hoping that his meal was still alright, he fetched it. Squatting next to it, he grabbed the bag after pinning his phone between his shoulder and ear, while his other hand still wrapping around the girl carefully. “Maybe I just want to call you?”

Yifan snorted and ended the call without retorting to Chanyeol’s cheesy line.

 

\------

 

After putting his food on the dining table, Chanyeol moved to the living room and gently put her down on the sofa while moving the cushions to the edge side to prevent her from rolling and falling onto the floor despite the wide space the black comfortable furniture could provide for the girl.

A bit startled and amused when the girl refused to let go of his shirt, Chanyeol held her hand and gently pried his shirt from her hold. When she showed a discomfort of not able to hold something in her sleep, he used an alpaca doll Yifan left there some months ago to be held by the girl. Chuckling, Chanyeol wondered whether he should show the adorable sight to Yifan or not as he called the receptionist.

Once he was done informing the receptionist, Chanyeol checked the time and then glanced at his neglected meal. Looking at the girl who seemed to be in deep sleep, he shrugged off his backpack which he had just realized still hanging on his back and started his dinner, glad that the food's paper box packaging were still intact albeit the content had gone cold.

After he finished his meal, Chanyeol checked the girl. She slept contently on his sofa while still hugging Ace, the alpaca -which despite Yifan's reluctance in accepting the doll, he still gave a lovely name to it- close to herself. Caressing her head a little bit more, Chanyeol pushed himself up and darted to his room.

Worried that the girl might wake up at any moment and got scared of the foreign place, he left the door to his room open so he could hear any sound from the living room.

Some minutes later, after changing into sweatpants and loose comfortable t shirt, then putting his clothes in the hamper, Chanyeol checked on the girl again. Looking at his phone to find out that it's already 30 minutes after his call to the receptionist about the lost girl, yet there was still no call back to indicate that anyone had lost their daughter, Chanyeol frowned. He wanted to call the receptionist again but with them hadn't yet known about the girl's name and where she actually lived -if she was indeed a guest of someone here, Chanyeol knew that they couldn't do much.

As if the world wanted to help him, his phone rang with familiar song.

“ _Na eureureong eureureong eureureongdae_.” Singing along with the song, Chanyeol went to his kitchen table to fetch his phone. Picking it up, he smiled gratefully as he answered. “Fan!”

“Morning.” Yifan greeted him, his voice lacked the bite from hours ago. “How is the girl?”

Wanting to pout because his lover asked about the girl first before him, but couldn't exactly do that because of the situation, Chanyeol glanced at the girl again, keeping an eye on her when she stirred in the sleep. ‘Is the song too loud?’ He wondered before answering. “She is still sleeping in my apartment.”

“You have informed the receptionist?” Yifan asked, his tone almost sounded like accusing the younger hadn't yet called.

“I have already done it an hour ago!” Chanyeol exclaimed before slapping his mouth for his loudness. Looking at the girl again, he sighed in relief when his shout didn't seem to affect her sleep. “I told Mr Kim about her, and he also said that there was no one looking for the girl before I called him.”

“Maybe she doesn't live there nor a guest.”

“Then, what is she?” Chanyeol glanced worriedly at the girl. “What if she…” blur of negative ideas whirling around in his head that he looked horrible.

“Whatever you're thinking, stop that.” Yifan warned him over the phone. “She is not a ghost. She is not a spy. And definitely she is not an alien.”

“Oh right. She can't be any of that.” Chanyeol gulped down any other words down before he said it out loud. “But, what should we do now? No one claimed that they lost a daughter here.”

There was no answer yet from Yifan. Chanyeol thought that the other was thinking carefully of what to do and knowing that he shouldn't interrupt him, he leaned away from the dining table to get himself a drink.

Should they go to police? Looking at the time, it's already the time for children to sleep, he wasn't cruel enough to wake a child up from their sleep, especially not to go to police! What kind of devil taking an innocent child to police at this hour?

Well, _his_ devil.

“The police.” Yifan stated and the seriousness in his voice made the tall man looked at his phone in disbelief.

“But, she is still asleep. How can I..  I can't take her to police.” He blurted, almost tripping over his own words.

“Who said about taking her to police?” Yifan asked and from his tone alone, Chanyeol could picture the rise of the other's thick eyebrow.

“What?”

“Who said about taking her to police? I only said ‘the police’.” Yifan said and this one, Chanyeol could see his eyes rolled exasperatedly. “Did you overthink it again?”

Clearing his suddenly dry throat, Chanyeol asked sheepishly. “Then, what about the police?”

“You go call the police and ask if there is any report about missing girl. Tell them that you found her in front of your door.”

“But, what if they ask me about her? What should I reply with? She is asleep and I don't even know her name.” Chanyeol reasoned and Yifan seemed to think over it too.

“Right.” Yifan sighed. “Maybe give it a rest for tonight? I don't know if this is the right thing, but let's wait until morning.”

“Okay.” Chanyeol responded shortly, sighing a bit gladly when he was reminded that the day after was weekend and he got no work. “Thank you.”

“Thank me later when all of this ended.” Yifan sighed. “Anyway, how have you been?”

Several things happened in the two days after Yifan went to Canada, that Chanyeol was a bit unsure which one he should tell first. So he started with the most recent thing. “The tangsuyuk I ordered from this new place really taste good!”

 

\-----

 

Groaning, Chanyeol pulled his blanket over his head when the morning light fell onto his eyes, he attempted to move for a better and more comfortable position in his sleep only to have his leg hitting something hard.

Yelping in pain, Chanyeol sat up abruptly on his bed only to realize that he wasn't actually in his bedroom. He was sleeping on the floor and now his toes hurt because he just had a kicking practice with the table. Nursing his poor toes, he failed to realize that on the other side of the room there was other person watching his what was going to be eventful morning.

Groaning again, Chanyeol fell back to his makeshift bed on the floor of his living room. He sighed raising his arms over his head, looking ahead at the ceiling before remembering the reason why he was in the living room instead of his bedroom. Jolting up again, Chanyeol turned to his side, looking at the occupant of his sofa which was staring at him with almost scared expression.

Thinking that his waking up appearance might be a bit too much to children, he tried to tidy his hair as he smiled at the girl. “Morning. How are you?”

The girl looked at him cautiously, hugging Ace so tight as if the doll could save her. She bit her lip, and from her expression, Chanyeol knew that she had been awake for a quiet long time, hopefully she didn't see him drooling. Wiping the side of his mouth, Chanyeol continued smiling at the girl, he patiently waited while sitting on the floor.

With his towering height, he might scare the girl. That's what Yifan said last night, thus Chanyeol kept himself seated on the floor with his hands -clean, he had wiped the drool onto his pants- outstretched to her on the table.

She didn't reply with any words but a small nod from her was enough for Chanyeol to be taken as an answer. Keeping his smile, he introduced himself. “Hello, I'm Park Chanyeol. What's your name?”


	2. Chapter 2

 

**_  
2_ **

 

Laughter was still ringing from Chanyeol as they walked toward the cafe a block from his apartment. To be exact, Chanyeol walked with the girl holding onto his shoulders as he held her carefully in his arms.

“Please stop that.” Chinsun, the girl had introduced himself some minutes ago, whined embarrassedly at the tall man. Her blood rushed to her cheeks as he continued laughing softly.

Grinning at the girl, Chanyeol said. “I'm sorry. But..” The man bursted out another laugh and that got himself some weak punches to his chest which didn't particularly stopped him to find the situation some moments ago very funny.

 

“What's your name?” Chanyeol asked softly, his smile wide and kind filled with genuine curiosity as he looked at her.

The girl glanced down at him, seeing him stayed down on the floor instead of standing up. Burying her mouth onto the stuffed doll, she muttered something which Chanyeol couldn't hear clearly.

Because of that,the man leaned forward over the coffee table and inquired. “What is it?”

“..chinSun.” She muttered again, but this time a bit louder and Chanyeol could hear the last syllable clearly.

“Minsun?” He asked for confirmation, turning his face to the side a bit and leaning forward as if the mere centimeters of the decreasing gap between them mattered to how well he could hear the other.

Hearing the wrong name, the girl looked up from Ace’s crown and said louder. “Chinsun.” Accompanying her answer, a loud grumble announced someone's need for breakfast.

 

“Sorry. But it was so cute.” Grinning at the girl who pouted at him, Chanyeol patted her stomach. “Now, let's fill up this baby.”

Getting into the cafe, Chanyeol was a bit surprised when he saw that there were several groups of young fathers and their children occupying almost half of the cafe. Standing in the queue line, Chanyeol looked around the cafe and wondered if it had became a trend for a father to take care of their child because of certain Sunday father-kid show.

“Hello. What would you like to order?” A female voice asked him cheerfully and Chanyeol stepped out from his daze to look at the worker before glancing up to find a breakfast menu for the both of them.

“I want an Americano and… Chinsun what do you want?” Chanyeol asked without looking at the girl in his arms as he looked at the breakfast menu. Should they have pancake? He thought, considering the breakfast menu the cafe provided.

The girl didn't give much response beside an “I don't know.”

Looking at the girl before glancing to the beverage lists to find something the girl might want, Chanyeol asked again. “Do you want orange juice?”

Chinsun didn't answer right away, she was silent until Chanyeol looked at her again. “Yes.” She said shortly. “Anything is fine.”

“Then, an Americano, orange juice and 2 mix sandwiches set.” Engrossed in ordering for both of them, thinking gladly that Chinsun wasn't a picky eater, Chanyeol didn't notice the uncomfortable look on her face as he put Chinsun down beside him while they waited for their order to be finished.

After taking the seats near the window, Chanyeol placed the plates of sandwiches in the middle of the table, one placed closer to him and the other -he made sure that it was- in Chinsun’s reach area.

Sipping his morning coffee, he asked the girl who held a piece of egg sandwich with both hands. “Chinsun-ah, how old are you?”

She swallowed her little bite before answering, raising her right hand with three fingers folded. “Seven.”

Nodding while doing a little calculation relating to school in his head, Chanyeol asked with a mouthful. “What grade are you in?”

Frowning at the older man, Chinsun scolded him. “Ahjussi. Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Laughing, Chanyeol nodded again after swallowing. “Okay okay. Sorry. So, Chinsun, what grade are you in?”

“I'm in second grade.”

“Which school?” He asked but before the girl could answer, someone interrupted them.

A man with wide grin knocking the glass window and when he got Chanyeol’s attention, he waved at him from behind the glass window. Chanyeol, in reflex, waved back at his friend who even though he couldn't hear his voice, was calling his name.

“Ya! Baekhyun-ah.” Chanyeol called back happily, motioning the other to come inside the cafe and instantly, Baekhyun was sitting with them, pulling a free seat to their table for two.

“Who is this pretty girl?” Baekhyun asked as soon as he plopped down on the seat, his hand pinching the girl's cheek in adoration.

“Chinsun-ah, introduce yourself, this is my friend.” Chanyeol said, pointing at Baekhyun with his pinky as his other fingers were cradling the sandwich.

The girl turned on her seat and bowed a little toward Baekhyun. “Hello. My name is Chinsun.”

“Woah! She is more polite than my niece!” Baekhyun claimed in surprise before composing himself to reply Chinsun’s introduction. “Hello, Chinsun-ah. My name is Baekhyun.”

“Nice to meet you, ahjussi.” The girl said again but this time her respond made grimace visiting Baekhyun’s face.

“Don't call me, ahjussi. I'm too young to be called that.”

Hearing that, Chanyeol made a face. “What are you talking about? We are almost 30.”

“But I'm not married yet.”

“And you have already had a niece. She calls you ahjussi too right?”

“That’s because she is my niece.”

Baekhyun pouted but Chanyeol ignored him, choosing to continue his breakfast with Chinsun. His friend who didn't like to be ignored, came up with another question. “Did you finally manage to knock Yifan up?”

Slamming his hand on Baekhyun’s mouth because of his unfiltered choice of words, Chanyeol said. “Ya! There is a child here.”

“What is knocking up?” Chinsun asked with curiosity. “Is it like knocking the door?” Her hand raised to knock a nonexistent door in front of her.

Still with his hand on Baekhyun’s mouth, Chanyeol nodded. “Yes. Knocking the door.”

“Why would you knock that person? You are going to hurt that person?”

Baekhyun bursted into laughter, his head thrown back and he almost fell back from his seat, or with his seat, if not for his hand shooting up to hold onto Chanyeol. “Yeah. You're going to  _ hurt _ him if you want to knock Yifan-hyung up.” The shorter said with mirth and his eyes narrowed into crescent shape because of this conversation.

Chanyeol wanted to smack Baekhyun for this inappropriate topic in front of a kid but Chinsun’s eyes already widened.  _ Oh my God! Did Chinsun understand this kind of talk? _

“Hyung? That person is older than you?” The girl exclaimed aloud. “You should respect your elder!”

_ Oh _ .. She was still innocent. Well she was a seven years old girl after all. Chanyeol was glad and relieved for this fact, but on the other hand, Baekhyun was..

Laughing his sass out, Baekhyun slammed his hand against the table several times, making the plates clattering and their drink trembling inside the glass and cup. “Hahahaha!” Doubling over the small table because of the laugh, he tried to give a comment between his laugh. “Right... You should  _ respect _ Hyungie... I can't believe that you have to learn this from little girl.”

Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol leaned back to his seat. A glance to Baekhyun, he found his hand wanting to smack him. But another glance to Chinsun, he knew that he should help the girl who had a very confused look on her face.

“Did I say something wrong?” Her expression screamed that question as she looked at Baekhyun, bewildered by his reaction.

Reaching out to tap her fluff cheek, Chanyeol sighed. “Just ignore him.”

“But, he..”

“He might be older than you, physically. Mentally, he was only three years old.” Chanyeol said snidely but he should knew better that Baekhyun made a better retort than him.

“No three years old could understand what I'm talking about.” He tried to act cool by stopping his laugh and crossing his legs as he leaned back on his seat but soon he laughed again.

“Eat your sandwich, Chinsun-ah.” Chanyeol said to the girl, ignoring his best friend who didn't seem would stop laughing soon.

“Okay.” The girl replied obediently, not looking at Baekhyun as she took a bite of the food.

Done with his laughing, Baekhyun finally asked. “So, who is this girl?” looking back and forth between his friend and the unknown girl.

“This is Chinsun.” Chanyeol said, answering as he looked at Baekhyun who raised his eyebrows, expecting him to say more than that. But generally speaking, he didn't have anything else to say, so he turned to her. “Chinsun-ah. Where do you live?”

Baekhyun's eyes widened when he heard that question, yet he refrained from asking as he followed Chanyeol’s gaze to the girl.

Chinsun stopped eating, her little hands clutching onto the sandwich a bit too tightly. And Chanyeol reached out to her hands because the filling was squeezed out and about to fall onto her lap. “Chinsun-ah?”

The man looked closely at her, trying to find any clue from her reaction and seeing the cheerlessness showed up on her face, Chanyeol was perplexed. When Chinsun didn't reply, he casted a glance to the other man who had been observing silently at the tiny exchange between him and the tiny girl.

Baekhyun looked at her in an almost scrutinizing way. His neat eyebrows furrowed before distancing again when he turned to Chanyeol, mouthing his question. “Who is she?”

Chanyeol worried his bottom lip, glancing unsurely between his friend and the girl. Awkwardly, he reached out his hand and patted her head. “It's okay if you don't want to tell me now.” The tall man tried to assure her with a smile, but from Baekhyun’s expression, he guessed he didn't do as well as he had expected of himself. “You can continue eating the sandwich.”

When the girl continued eating, not looking up at both of them, Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun and hushed the explanation to him. “Actually, I found her yesterday in front of my apartment room.”

Baekhyun obviously didn't need word to respond to Chanyeol with how loud his expression alone screamed, but still, he whispered out. “What?”

Chinsun looked up at them, the expression which shouldn't be on kid's face begged them to not talk further about it.

Trying to divert their conversation, Baekhyun rapidly asked the other. “Where is Yifan-hyung?”

“He is still in Canada.” Chanyeol gladly followed Baekhyun’s direction. Pouting, he told his best friend about their conversation last night. “He said that being in Canada is much more fun than in here because I am not there with him.”

Waving his hand, Baekhyun leaned back in his seat. “Don’t you understand? He was trying to say that he miss you.”

“What? I have never heard of that!” Chanyeol widened his eyes, leaning over the table toward Baekhyun. “He wasn't just teasing me?”

“Phone call is limited to voice only. That's why he wants to draw out more reactions from you.” Taking the Americano -already half drunk- offered by Chanyeol, Baekhyun -Chanyeol’s personal relationship guru- started his lesson about long distance relationship. “And usually in this kind of case, his tease also implies what he is feeling. When he said that it was fun without you, he was actually trying to tell you that the lack of your presence beside him bothering him. He misses you! Try video call next time. You know him and his expression better than anyone. Video call will help you to see what he is actually feeling behind his words.”

 

Once done with breakfast and Baekhyun left the two alone, Chanyeol held the girl's hand as they walked back to Chanyeol’s apartment, helping their stomach to digest the sandwich. Chinsun was tall enough to held his big hand that he didn't need to bend down, that point, he was grateful. But, with silence erupted between them, he couldn't be sure of it.

“Do you want to go to the park?” He asked, wanting to break the stillness that had been building between them after his last question. But Chinsun shook her head no. She told him that she didn’t want to go anywhere.

“Then, should we go to my home?” Chanyeol inquired unsurely. This situation was hard for him to deal and he didn’t know -an exact none- what he should do with it.

“Will you tell me about yourself?” He asked again after Chinsun nodded. They both went back in silence after the girl giving an affirmation.

 

When they came back to his apartment, Chanyeol silently asked the guard if there was anyone looking for a girl. Seeing a head shake, he looked worriedly at the girl who keeping her gaze mostly on the ground.

Opting to call the police, Chanyeol ushered Chinsun to walk in first and watched some cartoon while he would make a phone call. She frowned, looking unsure but did as what Chanyeol told her.

Calming himself after he heard the click of the lock of his door, Chanyeol gave the police office a call, reporting the lost girl, telling them all he knew about her and that currently he was taking care of her. 

Congratulating himself once he told the police about the situation also his identity and address, then confirming that the police could call his number when the girl's family had reached out to them, Chanyeol wanted to pat his back for this well done.

“Thank you for calling us. We truly appreciate your report. I hope we can call you soon for update.”

Ending the call, the tall man sighed out loud and leaned back against his door before sliding down onto the floor. Calling a police made him tense with nervous and wariness, and now that he had done it, Chanyeol wanted to relax himself.

Looking at his phone again, he wanted to call his lover, practicing what he had learnt from Baekhyun a while ago. But he had made the girl waiting for a long while, so he postponed calling Yifan and instead, he sent a message. Smiling at the message he sent, Chanyeol re-entered the password and walked inside, greeting Chinsun with a smile.

Sooner than he had expected, Yifan sent back a reply.

 

\------

 

Fan~ I miss you~~ XXX  8.39

What are you talking about?  8.40

It’s kisses!  8.40

Don’t you miss me too?  8.40

I want to talk with you.  8.40

I want to hear your voice.  8.40

I want to see you.  8.40

Fan?  8.41

Don’t ignore me. I know you had read these.  8.41

Stupid  8.42

Fan…  8.42

T-T  8.43

I miss you too  8.45

:D  8.45

I love you!  8.45

Where is the reply? :(  8.48

Park Chanyeol!  8.49

Okay okay :(  8.49

I love you too  8.58

I love you too :)  8.58

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The name for the girl, Chinsun, it means ‘seek the truth and goodness in everything’. I carefully choose that name to suit this story’s plot.
> 
> Thank You for reading! :D


	3. Chapter 3

_**1** _

 

Sitting beside Chinsun on the sofa across the TV, Chanyeol watched the Sunday morning cartoon. They were funny, really, in his free time, sometimes he watched it too because they could make him and Yifan laughed at the silliness it showed. Yet this time, he couldn’t stretch his lips to laugh, he couldn't even follow the story because his attention was on Chinsun whose mind was obviously also not on the cartoon. The little girl barely reacted to anything as she looked at the TV, her gaze unwavering but also unfocused. It worried Chanyeol.

“Chinsun-ah…” He called softly and the girl turned her head to look at him. Again, that look was there on Chinsun’s face, the solemn look which told that she had seen enough. Awkwardly, Chanyeol didn't know if his approach was right but he had to ask anyway. “Why did you come here?”

His recent call to the police, informed him that the police couldn't deal directly on that case. The officer said that the girl was probably running away from her home if she refused to tell him about her family and where she lived. The only thing they could help Chanyeol was suggesting him to coax the girl until she wanted to go back to home or sent her to troubled child center. He couldn't bring himself to do the latter option, so he did the first.

For a long while, Chanyeol waited for Chinsun to answer. He wanted to try to approach the girl, wanted to help her, but if she didn't tell her anything, he couldn't do anything. Chanyeol’s determination almost wilted when the girl finally told him. “I don't want to be home.”

The man nodded, acknowledging that the girl indeed ran away from home. He unsurely placed his hand on top of her small hands which rested on the pillow on her lap. He took the remote from her weak grip and turned the TV off in his attempt to not distract her. He too also moved onto the floor in front of her, maybe that way she wouldn't be intimidated by his towering presence.

Meeting his worried glance, Chinsun clenched her hands creating small fists to be scooped by Chanyeol’s big gentle hands. And as if it unlocked the door to her heart, words started pouring out of her and so did her tears making sad lines down her puffy cheeks.

 

Her family was, odd. The girl told him after trying hard to find the right word. Odd might not be the precise word, but Chanyeol was aware that he was talking with little girl, an elementary school student with limited amount of vocabularies to exactly describe the situation on her tiny hand. So Chanyeol waited for her to tell everything before processing them.

Chinsun’s family consisted of father, mother and her. Just the three of them living together in a decent sized home in a good neighborhood. And the girl had been living a good life, she dubbed when she started. Her parents provided everything she needed. School, comfortable and cute clothes, adorable hair accessories, delicious meal, and plenty pocket money. If one saw that, those should be enough for seven years old girl, physically.

Chinsun loved her parents, she really did. She had told him that numerous times during her telling as if she was trying to console herself and at the same time convincing Chanyeol that her parents weren't bad. Her parents were just confused and not ready, she told him. One statement which told Chanyeol that the girl in front of him was forced to mature before the time.

 

“I don't know what to do with her.” She heard her mother talked to her father one late night in the dining room as she hid behind the slightly ajar door of her bedroom not far from where her parents were at. She was about to go to the bathroom when her parent's voice reached her. They thought that she was asleep, she had been, but they didn't know that she was then woken up.

A sigh was heard and Chinsun knew that it was her father from the deep and exasperated tiredness. “I know that we weren't ready at that time. But, we've been doing our best. We’re doing well.”

“But still, this is all wrong.” Her mother said again, sobbing quietly as if what she had been buried inside her mind  started to spill over. “It's not supposed to be like this.”

The little girl silently listened to her parents, with both unaware of her listening to their love-numbing talk. She knew that her parents were different than her friends’ parents, and she wanted to believe that they were like other parents who love and care for their children, even in their own unique way. Yet, the conversation she heard just then, shattered the thin fragile root of her believe. Her birth into the family was welcomed by her family, but unwanted by her own parents.

 

“..I'm sad because of it. But I don't tell them. I don't want to upset them. I think if I am being a good girl, they will, I hope they will love me like my friend’s parents love their children.”

Attentively, Chanyeol listened to everything she wanted to say, nodded and hummed to prompt her to continue, and his hand every once in a while raised to brush off the tears from her reddened cheeks. He felt bad for her, he really did. No child should have faced this kind of problem, they should have been able to live happily as if the world is the greatest place to be in.

He himself, wasn't always happy during his childhood. His parents sometimes told him off, but those were because of his wrongdoings, it always were, he realized after growing older. Yet, for Chinsun, it wasn't her fault. It's not her fault to be born at the _wrong_ time. Yes, she was only born at the wrong time, her birth wasn't a mistake at all.

Pulling the little girl gently to move onto his lap, Chanyeol carefully wrapped his arms protectively around her who while sobbing, latched her arms and legs around him. The young man sighed silently and stood up. His arm propped the girl’s light weight while his other hand rested on Chinsun’s head, caressing the soft hair while he let her to cry on his neck.

With the small experience from the night before, Chanyeol readily whispered sweet comforting words to the child. “You are a good girl, Chinsun-ah. You are loved. Everything will be alright.”

He continued muttering softly, his feet took them around the living room while his brain fishing out any words he could use to calm the girl. The time told him that calling Yifan right then for help was out of option, the older was surely had gone to sleep by then, and it wasn't like he could leave the girl to call someone to begin with. Relying on himself, Chanyeol hugged Chinsun closer to his heart.

 

“I'm sorry.” Chinsun said after calming down. She had stopped crying and now silently latching her thin arms around Chanyeol’s neck. Her face was still buried on his neck and he could feel the -albeit fast- rhythmical puffs of her breath hitting his skin.

Nudging her head softly with his jaw, Chanyeol chuckled. “Why are you sorry? You don't do anything wrong.” he said, still standing while moving his weight between his two feet, the additional weight which had been latching onto him long enough made his feet a bit tired, and so were his arms which had been holding the girl up. It's a bit hard to do this standing, Chanyeol was tempted to take a seat, but remembering that one day long ago he had ever been in Chinsun’s position and not noticing how tired his dad must had been, he chose to stay standing upright. Beside, the view from his balcony was pretty too, he could bear with it.

There was a glimpse of airplane flying on the clear blue sky, the bright hot summer day alluring the citizen of Seoul to go out to the sea, and if he opened the window he was sure able to hear the sound of the crowd below -his apartment wasn't that far above from the ground, he could hear their shout just fine.

“Chinsun-ah.” He called after losing himself in his own thought, while staring at the scenery, his long fingers brushed her hair smoothing the long locks. The young man waited patiently for her to respond, but after a minute she hadn't yet answered. “Chinsun?”

Peeking down to look at her, Chanyeol’s eyes widened when he saw her sleeping on his shoulder. Baffled, he snorted at the recurring event, the little girl fell asleep on his arms again. The young man slowly walked back into the room, leaving the bright day to those outside his apartment as he approached the sofa where the sunlight couldn't directly reach them.

Once he saw the cushion scattered on the sofa, Chanyeol bit his lips when he bend at the knees to prepare the sleeping space. Struggling with his height before giving up and crouching down next to it, he hurriedly placed one cushion for head rest and moved aside the others but not Ace which he left near the pillow-cushion, then carefully, he laid the little girl. Just like the night before, he let Chinsun hold Ace again, as he straightening her clothes then moving to his bedroom to get a light blanket for her.

For a while, Chanyeol sat beside her, looking at her closed puffy eyes sadly with his hand tapping on her shoulder rhythmically soft -an action he ever saw done by a mother to her sleeping baby. Sighing, Chanyeol realized that he was in difficult situation. Sure, the police suggested to him that he should convince the girl to go home, but could he really do that? Should he, when he knew what happened in her house? The thought of sending her home suddenly felt like a bullet piercing through his heart.

But, what could he do about it? He needed help.

 

“Oh, Eomma.” Chanyeol called as soon as he found himself stuck in his thought. The warm greeting from her mom appreciatively helped him relax and out of his stress. “How are you?”

“I'm good.” He answered after his mom asking him. “No. I'm not lonely because Yifan is in Canada… okay, I'm lonely. And it's already night there.. I don't want to disturb his time with his mother…  I did send messages to him… He said that he misses me too.”

Chanyeol chuckled when he heard his mother cooing at them as if they were two little kids who didn't know anything about grown up things. He continued talking with her, informing her about his life and he almost forgot the reason behind his call if not for his mother knowingly asking him what's wrong.

Glancing at Chinsun from his seat in the dining room, Chanyeol told his mother everything. His mother listened to him, giving him all of her attention while cutting him every once in a while to comment and ask further about the detail which Chanyeol gave her everything he knew and not biting back any information about the whole situation.

“Maybe you can give the Child Support a call?” His mother says. “Asking them to take care of this?”

“But..” Chanyeol frowned, the idea of throwing the problem to be taken care of by other people made him feel irresponsible.

“It's not that I'm saying that you can't do it.” His mother sighed, able to follow his line of thought. “But, you have no experience in this kind of situation. And we're talking about a child's future here. This will change her life forever. What if you make things become worse?”

Chanyeol listened to her, a bit disappointed because his mother think that he couldn't do it. He knew and was aware that she was right about he didn't have any sort of experience in dealing with this kind of situation. He didn't know what to do, and that was the reason why he called his mother. But still, he wanted to do something, to solve this problem for Chin sun. “I'll think about it.” He said in the end, not giving any indication that he would do as she said, if his mother wanted to tell him off again, she didn't do it.

“Okay.” She instead said that after sighing aloud, probably she already knew that he would say something like that. “I don't want you to regret your decision. Think about it carefully.”

“Okay.” Chanyeol nodded even though his mother couldn't see him. “I'll call you again later.”

 

The young man waited for a long while after his call with his mother before he looked for child support’s phone number. He took his time before giving them a call, reading everything their site provided, pondering over it several times, then strengthening his will to call them.

Gladly, his call was picked as soon as it rings. A voice of old woman asked gently, welcoming him to share with her his reason to call the number. For once, in a state of unsure and maybe panic, a thought of dropping the call fleeted through his mind, but a worried glance to Chinsun on the sofa prompted him to held his phone tighter and pressing it to his ear. Gulping down the nervousness as he heard the woman telling him that he could talk to her, Chanyeol told her.

After listening to the brief explanation Chanyeol gave her, the woman asking him to wait as she was going to put him through to the counselor. She waited until he answered with agreement that he would wait before putting him on hold. Chanyeol wondered if it would take long, but it didn't. Not long after the woman put him on hold, the call was picked up again and now a different woman talked to him.

After introducing herself as Eunseo, the woman asked for his name and Chanyeol told him his name before telling her the current situation in his apartment. The woman paid lot of attention to his words, humming shortly at each points and never once interrupting him. And when Chanyeol said that he had told her everything, did she started talking again and asked him some things to confirm if she took the situation right.

She asked if it was in his intention to call them, he told her that it was his mother who suggested him to call them. Then she asked again if he did want to help her.

Chanyeol didn't need a glance back to Chinsun to know what his heart wanted. He truly cared for the girl and wanted to help her. As he did so, Chanyeol also explained to her his condition, that he didn't have any experience in dealing with the situation but willing to do anything needed if he could help it.

Eunseo, the counsellor, praised him for his genuineness, saying that he was a good person and then thanking him for calling them for the girl. “Do you want to send her to our place?”

Finding the question hard to answer, Chanyeol fell silent. It hadn't been a day yet since he met Chinsun. He didn't know how long he had dwelled in the question, but he guessed that it had been too long because the woman asked. “Chanyeol-ssi? Are you still there?”

“Ah, yes. I'm here. I-” his word halted. “I.. I don't know. I mean, I want to help her, she is a good girl, she deserves all the love and I…” he almost stuttered before stopping again, everything began to spin around in his mind, he couldn’t continue.

Patiently, Eunseo waited for him. “And you, Chanyeol-ssi?”

Hearing that, Chanyeol felt that he had to come up with an answer hurriedly, but he was torn between two main answers. His mother told him to not get involved in problem he couldn't deal, but in the other hand, he wanted to hold Chinsun’s small hand. In the end, he replied. “I don't know.”

.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is a bit hard to approach this chapter.. I'm not sure how to write the details when Chanyeol calls the 'Child Support'.. I mean, I don't have any experience with Child problem. I don't know at all. I know it's reckless of me to write this story, but I want to.  
> Back to this story, I have tried to find out about this kind of service in Korea, but I can only find 'Youth Hotline' -which is dealing with not only children but teenagers and young adults too- and its site is completely in Korean which I can't understand in one bit, I want to give up. Then when I want to drop the idea, miraculously, I found Childline book, Running Out of Tears, and they give me lots of information and references about it.  
> So, following this, is what I learn from Childline -and some other sources. What I write might not be correct, I beg your pardon if there's mistakes in it. Comments and Feedback are welcomed.  
> Thank you for reading and see you next chapter! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking long to update, and thank you for waiting :)  
> Here is a little progress~~

 

**_4_ **

  
  


“For this situation,” Eunseo started after saying that his answer was good, accepting his answer and not minding it at the very least. “We can try to tell the child that they aren't wrong, that they have their own reason to run away from home, which from your explanation you have done well. We need to ask whether the child want to go home or not, if she wants to, you will need to send her back to her family. But, if not, we need to mediate this situation with her parents, as we try to find a place where the child can stay safely.”

“Do you need us to help you finding it, Chanyeol-ssi?” She asked carefully, as much as she wanted Chanyeol to provide the space for the girl because the girl was apparently trusting him already with her information, she couldn't burden the man. But even though he refused, she could ask the shelter or volunteer to give the girl a place to stay.

“Uhhm.” Glancing at the girl, Chanyeol felt conflicted again. “I think my apartment can provide her some place. She can stay here if she wants to.”

“I'm glad to hear that, Chanyeol-ssi.” Eunseo smiled in relief, glad that the man was willing to cooperate. Some cases she had taken care of the children was sent away to the shelter and most found it had to trust again.

“Ah yeah..” He responded unsurely before asking. “Then, what happen afterward?”

Readily, Eunseo picked up the explanation again. “Once we're sure that the girl is in a safe place, we will have to inform the parents that their child doesn’t feel safe with them and they aren’t allowed to meet the child in the temporary home. Most of the parents won’t agree to this. But, we usually try to mediate with them, explaining to them that their way of raising their child is harming the child either physically or mentally.”

“From there, we will find a way to solve this. If the parents doesn’t want to lose their children, we can help by guiding them them through this. But otherwise, if something bad happens, we resorts to legal act by law.” The counsellor explained carefully, mindful of it word by word to make sure no wrong interpretation. “But for Chinsun's situation, we can’t really help much. Her parents don’t neglect her completely. It will be hard to raise this against them.”

“If…” The tall man started nervously, he didn't know if this was the right thing to ask, but, a little tug at the back of his mind needing him to get the answer. “But, what if the parents doesn’t want to take them back?” Not that he wanted it that way, but, just in case, he wanted to be ready for any outcome.

Eunseo paused for a moment of contemplation, thinking for any reasons why Chanyeol asked that question. This was not the first time she explained it as a counselor, but this was certainly Chanyeol’s first time knowing it, so she explained even more carefully and cautiously, whatever Chanyeol’s reason was. “If that’s the case, we’ll need to go through law and kindly ask the parents to give their right over the children. And the child will be either adopted or put in orphanage.”

Swallowing the silence lump inside his throat, Chanyeol thought about it, his grip on his phone getting tighter and so did his jaw tensing. Eunseo didn't say anything as she waited, probably understand what was going through Chanyeol’s mind, and she didn't let out any particular sound when Chanyeol finally answered, his voice ridden by obvious distress.

“I’ll talk with Chinsun first. She has the right to know and choose.”

“Yes, that’ll be favorable.”

The man could hear the smile on her voice and he felt a bit relieved after hearing that. “Thank you for your help.”

“We thank you too. If not for you, Chinsun may not able to get the help she deserves. We’ll do our best to help you two. You can call us back anytime.”

Ending the call, Chanyeol finally realized how tense he was during the call. He also noticed his hand was clammy once he put his phone down on the table and that the room felt stuffy because of his nervousness.

Turning his gaze to Chinsun who was still sleeping tight on the sofa, Chanyeol fortified his resolve and woke the girl up. There were a lot of things he had to talk to with lots of people, his family, friends and also Yifan. But first, he had to talk with Chinsun about it all before he decided the next step.

 

Talking to Chinsun wasn't easy. Despite her maturity, she was still a little girl, a mere seven years old girl who needed the love, care and protection from her parents. The girl teared up when Chanyeol told her who he had just called and for what purpose.

Unexpectedly, the girl was very calm about it, she didn't protest when Chanyeol told her about the call and that she could live in his apartment for a while. But, after Chanyeol explained about what could happen and go wrong, she finally realized that there was a big chance that she might not able to be with her parents again.

He had guessed that she would be unsettled by it, but he never expected that the little girl would cry just like Eunseo had warned before the call ended, thinking that it was her fault if her parents would be reported to the police. She even said that if she didn’t do bad thing, her parents would love her just like any other parents.

Her cries hurt Chanyeol, it saddened him because he wanted to help the girl out of her unhealthy life with his parents. He thought that the girl would be willing to depart from her parents, but he found bitterly that the girl was still latching heavily onto his parents. That she was blaming herself for what happened to herself.

It was hard for Chanyeol to convince her otherwise, but he did and he could stop the crying and the self blame a little, after long train of comforting words and what sounded like empty promises, him would take care of her and that he would love her and anything to convince her that she would be alright even though she wasn’t with her parents. Those were dirty tricks and baseless pledge, Chanyeol wasn’t even sure if he could take her in nor his families and boyfriend would agree with him. But Chanyeol was true to himself, even though he didn’t know much about the girl, he really wanted to help and save her. That much was enough, right?

In the end, for whatever reasons Chinsun had in her mind for her decision, she said that she didn't want to go back home.

 

After his talk with Chinsun to and calming her down, Chanyeol gave a call to his mom, relaying the decision made between him and the girl to her, but after asking “Just.. what if… what if I adopt her?”

To say that his mom was shocked was a complete understatement, she went silent completely when Chanyeol finished asking it and there was no sound whatsoever from her side of the call. Hearing the sharp inhale, he could guess that she had a lot of things to be said but couldn’t voice it out because they got tangled under her tongue. In the end, she only loudly said, “What?”

Coughing onto his fist, Chanyeol tried to explain. “I know that you want a child from me, but because I can’t give you one, I guess I can adopt one.”

His explanation seemed to help his mother on what she wanted to say. But still it was really a shock to her unexpecting mind. “I… I don’t know. Have you talked with the Child Centre? What did they say? Can you even adopt her?”

“There will be lots of process need to be done, but if things go bad with her family, I may have the chance.” Chanyeol explained briefly and asks his mother again about it.

His mom took long time and Chanyeol could understand it, he was willing to let her think about it further. “If it goes well?”

Patting Chinsun's head, Chanyeol moves away to his bedroom and closed the door. “If that happens, we will send her back to her family.”

“Why don't we hope for the best? A child has to be with the their family. It's not right to separate them.”

“Even though she won't be happy with it?” Chanyeol didn't want to sound like he was pushing his opinion, but he needed to do that to open one's mindset. “Would you prefer her staying with her family who doesn't want her?”

“I don't mean it like that.” His mother remarked. “Honestly, it may change, Chanyeol. People change. Maybe after this, her family will realise that they are wrong and will treat her better.”

“I don't know, mom. I'm not sure.”

“It’s a good thing that you want to adopt a child for me. But, don’t act rashly about this. Think about it carefully.”

Nodding to himself because his mother couldn’t see it, the tall man replied. “I have thought this through. And I really want to adopt Chinsun.”

There is a sigh from his mom. “What about the girl? What does she say?”

Glancing at his closed door, Chanyeol looked down at his lap. “She wants to. I've told her everything I heard from the child centre and she maturely accepted it and even readied herself if she can't be with her parents. She said that, if you accept it, she wants to become a part of our family.”

“If I? She said that?”

Tilting his head to the side, Chanyeol bit his lip. “Not exactly. But she said about my family, which are you, father and Noona.”

“And Yifan?” She added which made Chanyeol paused before smiling at the implication. “Yes. Yifan too.”

There was an amused laugh from her before she said. “She sounds mature. And good girl too.”

Nodding at his mother's word, Chanyeol agreed. “Yeah, she is. You will like her. She is very polite, and brave too, she scolded me for talking while eating. And she is adorable, you will love her…”

“Hush.” His mother cut his jumbled compliments for the girl. “You sounds like those salesperson trying desperately to coax me to buy their products.”

Laughing nervously, Chanyeol rubbed the back of his head, running his fingers through his thick hair. The laugh in her voice eased him because he thought and hoped that it would mean good thing.

After several more comments from his mother, she finally told him her thought on it. “Really. I don’t know, Chanyeol. This is too sudden for me. I don’t think I will mind if she is a good girl. But you aren’t married yet to have a daughter. What will other people think about you? A single unmarried father with adopted daughter?”

“You know that we never let other people talk us down.” he dubbed, adding. “People doesn't actually care. They just need something to talk about.”

Following his answer, the call was filled with silence, a thick pause which drummed Chanyeol's heart, making crackling sound of expectation and impatience. He was too focused on waiting that his mother's reply startled him.

“Have you told Yifan about this?”

Coughing out the nervousness, Chanyeol lowered his voice. “About the girl, yes. But the adoption, not yet.” He admitted and added hurriedly before his mother protesting. “I have told you that it’s night for him right now. I can’t disturb his rest.” There was disapproving silence hanging between them and Chanyeol were fully aware about it but chose to not say anything.

“You know, I believe in you. If you have thought this through numerous times and still think that the decision is good for you, then I will let you. Bu..”

Thrilled at the sign of approval from his mother, Chanyeol couldn't wait for her finishing her words. “You will let me?” he asked almost too enthusiastic that he paused his mother.

“Yes, but. You have to talk to Yifan first. You are going to marry him, right?”

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Chanyeol was tempted to lay back there. “I plan too. But he never say anything about that. I wonder if he wants to.”

“Then you have to ask him soon.” She said shortly. From her tone, Chanyeol could feel that there were lots of things she wanted to say, but the fact that she didn't add anything, kept his mouth shut.

“I’ll do that.”

His mom sighed and warned him again. “Well..  Think about this carefully. The pros and the cons. We all believe in you. But we don’t want to see you regretting this, whatever your decision will be, in the future.”

It took Chanyeol quite a while to answer it. “I won’t. Thank you.”

“You can’t take care of yourself. But I believe that you can make the right decision.” His mother said ending the call. “Call me again once you have called Yifan and decided what you are going to  do.”

 

Pressing the send key on his message app, Chanyeol waited for Yifan to read the message and reply him. He had lied to his mother earlier. Despite the exaggerated explanation about time difference, there was actually 14 hours between them, which meant it was 11pm in Yifan's side right then, and he knew he slept late there because he didn't have to wake up early. His heart beat faster when the read notification had popped up and with every second of Yifan not replying yet, he became even more anxious.

He didn't send any long message, just a brief question of whether he can talk to the older man, but the minutes it took Yifan to reply bombed his mind.

 

> Are you still awake?  1.37
> 
> Can I call you?  1.37
> 
> Right now?  1.41
> 
> Yes.  1.41
> 
> Can I?  1.41
> 
> Sure  1.41

 

After getting the permission, Chanyeol immediately tapped the call button and waited for Yifan to accept it.

“What is it?” Yifan said as soon as the call connected, his voice void of any particular emotion.

Nervously, Chanyeol opened his mouth. “I want to talk about Chinsun.”

“The girl?” Yifan immediately responded, but still he didn't show anything concerning it. “What about the girl? You found her parents?”

“Kind of?” Chanyeol muttered, suddenly feeling unsure with everything because of Yifan's lack of interest.

“What do you mean? It's either yes or no.”

“Well, Chinsun told me about it. Her parents and stuffs.” Chanyeol knew that there was only one chance to explain this to Yifan through phone without making it go wrong, but the problem was he couldn't find the right way to bring the main topic up. “She actually ran away from home.”

“She did?”

“Yes.”

“Why? What happened?” Yifan's tone changed slightly, and the younger could actually picture his brows scrunching both in worry and disturbed.

“Her parents neglect her mentally, not providing proper care beside the basic necessities and stuffs for school. She is already upset because of it and then she overheard her mother said that she didn't want her. She thinks her parents want her gone.” Summarizing it in short explanation, Chanyeol bit his lips afterward, waiting for his lover's reaction to it.

“That's awful.” Yifan commented, feeling pity toward the girl. “But, what are you going to do with it? She's too young to be by herself.”

“Aah, that, is why I call you. I want to ask for your opinion.”

“On what? Have you got options for the girl?”

“Yes.” Sitting straighter than ever, Chanyeol prepared to tell Yifan about everything. “So, I called the Child Center this late morning. You know, the one who provide care for children in need.”

“Yeah, and?”

“I told them about the situation here and asked them what we should do about it.” Chanyeol stated slowly, either he postponing dropping the bomb or trying to explain everything carefully for Yifan to understand his reasons. “They said that the first thing needed to do, is giving her a safe place for her to stay. That is already covered by me, I mean, I care for her and I think she deserves it, she is a good girl. And polite, she scolded me this morning.”

Yifan chuckled lightly after hearing about the scolding. “Someone gotta do that. And you should dress yourself up. You are not a child anymore, Yeol.”

“I know that.” Bashfully, the younger whined. “I'm trying.”

“I know. You've done well so far.” Smiling, Chanyeol knew that his boyfriend was smiling too on the other side.

“Anyway, I let her stay with me for the time being.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And the next thing to do is, contacting her parents. We haven't done that yet, because there are things I want to talk with you first before calling the Child Center again.”

“And they are?”

Scratching the back of his neck, Chanyeol getting nervous, extremely. Now that he was actually talking with Yifan and heard his responses, he was afraid that his lover might be against his decision. “Uh.. I'll tell you later after finishing telling you what we need to do to take care of this.”

His unsure start made Yifan suspicious, there was a frown in his next word. “Okay.”

“So, yeah, after the calling, there will be some discussion. And the final will be decided by the result of it.” Standing from his bed, Chanyeol went toward the window, pushing the curtain to the side to let the natural light in. “And it's either her parents take her back in, with regular checkups to ensure they will take care of her properly, or let her go.”

“I see.” Yifan muttered sadly, a bit upset that things had to go that way or the other way, and both weren't that pleasant. “I hope it will go well and end well.” He wishfully said, not knowing which of that two options was better.

“Yeah, I hope so too.”

“But, what do you want to talk about with me? From what I heard, we only need to let things go as it is.”

“That..” Chanyeol paused, swallowing around the lump in his throat. “Err.. you know.. I don't actually wish for it, but, just a precaution.. if things turn out no good..” Yifan waited. “What if we adopt her?”

.

.

.

Chanyeol had his phone pressed to his ear again that afternoon. He glanced worriedly at Chinsun whose hands clasped tightly onto the blanket pooling on her lap.

It had been several hours after he made the first call to the Child Center and two hours to steel his mind to make the final decision after his call with Yifan which ended with argument.

As they waited for the call to be picked up, Chanyeol held Chinsun’s hands while telling her that she would be alright, that everything would be alright, for the both of them.

Then after what felt like eternity, the phone was picked up by the call center staff. Chanyeol told his name and that he had called earlier and his corresponder was Eunseo. It took not too long time for him to be connected to Eunseo's voice, and when she greeted him, he told her that he had told Chinsun and the girl was willing to go through the procedure offered by Child Center.

.

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To be continued

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, a little cliffhanger on KrisYeol's conversation.. But, don't worry, because on the next chapter, we will see the story from Yifan's side
> 
> See you later! ^^/

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think of it?  
> Hope you love this as well~  
> See you next chapter~


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